Articles and letters may be edited for the purposes of clarity and space. They are published in good faith with a view to enlightening all the stakeholders. However, the contents of these writings may not necessarily match the views of the newspaper.
Macron remarks
President Emmanuel Macron of France has been in the news for creating religious controversies. Without paying least attention to the basic ethics he is blaming Muslims for “Islamist terrorist attack”. Like many others he is a propagator of Islamophobia.
In a recent event a 47 years old history and geography teacher named Samuel Paty, showed controversial cartoons of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon Him) to his pupils, as per French media reports. The teacher was beheaded in a street of France. This shows the hatred and venom being spewed by French people against the most revered personality of Mankind. The fault is in their mindset as they have crossed all limits of decency in the name of liberty of expression. The West has different standards for themselves. In 2012, when a few newspapers in Britain published some indecent photos of Prince and Princess, these were immediately taken down from the web and the papers were also sued.
On the contrary, playing with the emotions of nearly 2 billion followers of our Holy Prophet (Peace be Upon Him) is a cruel joke. This schizophrenic approach must be changed by the West to keep peace and harmony in this world as love and honour of every Prophet (AS) and Prophet of Mercy (Peace be upon Him) is a matter of faith, respect and love in our lives.
IFTIKHAR MIRZA
Islamabad
Crimes against vulnerable
A national debate has started after the rape and murder of Zainab 2 years ago and rape of married woman at Gujjarpura on Sialkot-Lahore Motorway by two armed men in front of her children. Ethical and moral decay among the urban youth has set in. This led to a dozen childrens (girls) rapes/murders in Kasur in the last few years, including a 7-year-old girl, Zainab. The two Sialkot-Lahore Motorway rapists have been apprehended. Young boys, even teenagers have also not been spared by these heinous murderers. Hundreds of such incidents are also occurring in rural Punjab, KP and Sindh (including Karachi) every other day.
There are several reasons for this. First and foremost is the absence of a system of Islamic values brought about by an unjust antiquated British era judicial system where legal justice for common man lacks. Secondly, pornographic material and violence related clips/movies are easily available on mobiles and internet. Lastly not practicing Islamic commands such as daily prayers and reading the Quran that restricts evil-thoughts. Strict punishment for adulterers and murderers is ordained in the Quran. Attraction to Western evils such as drinking, smoking, drug-addiction increases appetite for lust. Child protection reforms proposed by the present government like Zainab Protection bill are not enough to curb this evil.
The PTI government should take full responsibility for countering this menace and Punjab and rest of provincial police should take strict action against these criminal elements by awarding them harsh punishments publicly. The authorities must take immediate steps to protect our children and the sanctity of women in public places. Lastly parents should play their due role, along with school teachers, to build moral character of their children with Islamic education and abstinence from anti-moral activities.
SAAD MAQBOOL BHATTY
Via email
Family planning
Pakistan’s population annual growth is 2.9 million. For a weak and unbalanced economy this population growth is huge. Even though there is considerable demand for family planning in Pakistan, adoption of family planning has been hampered by government neglect, lack of services and misconceptions.
In addition, it is believed that use of artificial contraceptives for family planning is against nature and also against Islam. At least government should clarify the concept of family planning and try to guide people on this sensitive issue.
SHARIF SABITH
Turbat, Balochistan
Afghan imbroglio
At last, the long-drawn-out Afghan war seems to be entering into its culminating phase as dialogue between Afghan Taliban and Afghan government, overseen by the US in Doha, has made considerable headway. Almost nineteen years ago, in the aftermath of the Twin Towers attack in New York on 9/11, the US unleashed a war on terror on Afghanistan in its bid to dismantle Al-Qaeda network and to chase and arrest Osama bin Laden. But for Americans, the mountainous terrain proved a hard nut to crack. Pentagon pumped trillions of dollars into this war on terror to gain control over Afghanistan but Taliban and other terrorists’ outfits gave a tough time to the American-led allied troops and forced Washington to find a solution to Afghan war through talks.
Hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians became victim of this war that was no more than a wild goose chase for allied forces. Moreover, Afghan territory became a safe and ideal haven for all those militant factions that were banished from their original place of birth. For example, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, IS and some other banned splinter groups took refuge in the land-locked territory of Afghanistan that later on brought death and disaster for thousands of people in various countries including Pakistan and Afghanistan itself. Moreover, Pakistan also bore the brunt of this war as it became a frontline state against the war on terror and consequently paid a heavy price as TTP and other terrorists groups directed their guns towards Pakistan. Stability of the entire region is closely linked to tranquillity and peace in Afghanistan. Before leaving war-raven country, all stakeholders must ensure that country may not plunge into chaos again.
MOBEEN- UL- HAQ
Wah Cant
Sectarian conflicts
Religious instability has always remained a challenging issue in Pakistan. Sectarianism is a deeply rooted social issue with enormous demerits on individual and collective life. The regional sectarian divide can be traced back to colonial period. No sooner did the Muslims realise the need for unity in the name of Islam, different conspiracies were hatched to bring forward well-trained and chosen religious groups to distract people from the fundamental faith and beliefs of Islamic ideology.
The practices followed by all those groups thus caused establishment of different sects in the name of Islam. Those groups were being exploited and controlled by some foreign factors. Their main focus was to divide Islam and it’s teachings by creating a constant problem of sectarianism. Since that time, sectarian conflicts have been on the rise, which has caused serious violations of religious codes and also created a state of social unrest within the state. Periodically, various accidents and target killings are reported that not only breed psychological fear in public, but also causes deep-rooted sectarian enmity. It’s high time that authorities and masses understood the severe nature of sectarian conflicts and ensures religious integrity for a peaceful Pakistan.
MAIRA MEMON
Hyderabad, Sindh
Clean hands
It is very unhygienic and dangerous habit that people do not wash their hands properly and it causes lot of diseases such as diarrhoea and many others. Globally 18m children die under the age of 5 every year from diarrhoea and pneumonia etc. If we see in Pakistan every year 8pc and 6pc children are dying from diseases such as respiratory infections and diarrhoea. According to a survey more than 20m people in Pakistan do not wash their hands with soap after using toilet, millions do not wash their hands after handling children or changing baby’s diapers. On the other hand if we see our educational and healthcare departments there are no proper facilities where a person could wash his/her hands. I would like to request people to take this issue seriously.
SAJJAD MUGHUL
Turbat, Balochistan
